


Hard to Breathe

by msmoocow



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 19:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/930126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msmoocow/pseuds/msmoocow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Wait," Blaine calls out, hastily tucking in his own chair and catching up with Jake in the Lima Bean parking lot. "I'll help, I — I want to help."</p><p>"Really?" Jake asks, grin spreading.</p><p>"Sure," Blaine answers easily around his own half-smile. "I'm no expert, but I'll try my best. We'll turn you into the romancer Marley deserves."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hard to Breathe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ailu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ailu/gifts).



> This work takes place within the universe of my [TBU rewrite](http://archiveofourown.org/works/555875), months after that fic around the events of 4x12 through 4x14. Consider it a rewrite of the crush arc. I hope it succeeds for you.

Marley brings cookies to glee that afternoon — cranberry-orange with white chocolate chips — and they're delicious. Blaine has three before Sam plucks the tray from his hands.

"Dude," Sam says, stacking two cookies and taking a bite. Blaine flinches slightly to the left as a rogue chip goes flying. "You're president. You can't overindulge. Leave some for the people!"

Blaine wants to point out that as vice president, Sam isn't exactly one of the _people_ either, but just then Jake walks up, clearing his throat and looking at him with wide, careful eyes.

"Hi," Jake says, folding his hands across his stomach. "Blaine, could I talk to you for a bit — alone?"

"Hey now," Sam says sternly, shoving the rest of his cookies into his mouth before clapping Jake on the shoulder. "Whatever you have to say to Blaine, you can say it in front of me."

"Ah. I'd rather not?"

"Listen, I know everyone thinks people with big mouths can't be trusted but that's actually a common miscon — wait a sec," Sam pauses, squinting carefully. "Are you like, in love with him? Because I'm totally cool with it!"

Blaine ignores the slight sting of Sam's words, and Jake frowns. "Huh? What — no! Not like that, I um. Just wanted to discuss something. It's personal."

When Sam leaves, Blaine lifts his brows expectantly, but Jake spares a glance towards the other side of the room. Brittany, Unique, and Marley are loudly discussing Beyonce's Superbowl performance.

"Not here," Jake mutters. "Meet me at the Lima Bean in half an hour?"

-

Blaine spots Jake at a quiet corner table holding two cups of coffee, one of which he offers up to Blaine.

"I didn't know what you'd want, so I stuck with the mocha. Everyone likes mocha, right?"

"Yeah," Blaine says, pasting on a smile. He sits, taking a quick sip. "So..."

"Right." Jake takes a deep breath before meeting Blaine's eyes. "I want to talk to you about romance."

"Oh?"

"I don't know if you know this, but before Marley I used to be kind of a jackass with girls." At Blaine's nonjudgmental nod, he continues. "And I really want to be a better boyfriend for her but I have no idea how."

Blaine shakes his head. "I'm sure Marley already knows how much you care about her."

"She gave me my Valentine's Day present two weeks early."

"That doesn't necessarily mean — "

Jake cuts him off, leaning forward. "She made me a two and a half month anniversary dinner."

"Didn't you start going out in January?"

"It was for our first date anniversary," Jake says, shaking his head. "I'd freaked out for a while between then and the dance, and she still wanted to celebrate us. I — I think I love her, and I want to show her, you know? Before I can tell her." Jake swirls his coffee, taking a sip and wiping his mouth. "I _want_ to tell her. I thought about going to Ryder, but I think he still likes her, so it'd be weird. And then I went to my brother, but he was uh, kind of unhelpful."

"And you think I can help?"

"Well, when I told my brother his advice was terrible and that maybe I shouldn't listen to a guy who hasn't had a girlfriend since the eighth grade — " Jake rolls his eyes wryly, " — he suggested I go to you."

"He did?" Blaine jerks in surprise. "I'm the last person on the planet who should be giving out relationship advice right now."

Shrugging, Jake looks away, and then back at Blaine with earnest eyes. "My brother says you're the only guy in glee right now who's had a relationship last more than a year."

"It's also _over_ ," Blaine points out.

"So?"

"So I doubt I'd be any more helpful."

Jake raises his palms in defeat. "Okay. Fine." Sighing, he stands, gently pushing his chair in. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. I'm sorry for asking. I just..." Jake pauses, biting his lip. "Thank you for your help before. For glee, for Grease...I couldn't have done it without you."

As he walks away, Blaine blinks thoughtfully. He _likes_ Jake. He wouldn't consider them friends, not really, but for all of Puck's loud and well-meaning gestures of friendship, his relationship with Jake feels closer than that one ever did. Blaine cares — of course he cares, he can't _not_ care about someone who needs him — but there's a pause when he remembers staying up to help Puck cram for finals, and Jake's bright-eyed gratitude after particularly difficult play rehearsals. And it hits him, sharply, how much he wants to help Jake. Blaine likes him, and Blaine cares, and it feels so, so nice to be necessary to the people he cares about.

"Wait," Blaine calls out, hastily tucking in his own chair and catching up with Jake in the Lima Bean parking lot. "I'll help, I — I want to help."

"Really?" Jake asks, grin spreading.

"Sure," Blaine answers easily around his own half-smile. "I'm no expert, but I'll try my best. We'll turn you into the romancer Marley deserves. Now first, think about developing a skincare routine..."

-

The following week passes as usual. Brittany doodles a hamster on a piece of paper with the words _It's Blaine! :)_ underneath and slides it over to him in English class. Mr Martinez hands back the oral exam grades, with _Buena pronunciación_ scrawled across the top of Blaine's rubric. Kitty pretends she doesn't know him as they wait in line for the water fountain, but when a football player walks up with slushie in hand, she trips him so skillfully that Blaine is almost convinced it was a complete accident.

Sam lends Blaine some lip balm for the week ("Your lips are looking pretty rough, man, _moisturize!_ ") and Blaine tries not to read into the gesture, uncapping the gift with a sincere "Thanks!"

On Wednesday, Blaine sits with the rest of the glee club at lunch, at the edge of the table next to Sam. When Jake and Marley arrive hand-in-hand, he stares.

"Dude. What happened?" Sam drops the tot he'd been about to eat.

Marley winces. "We went on a date last night. Couples spa treatment."

"In hell?" Tina asks, and Sam elbows her gently in the side. "I mean...what did they do to you?"

"It turns out I'm allergic," Jake answers, gesturing to his face. Rashes cover his T-zone, spreading red and angry across his forehead and nose. "To floracide peels," he adds as he pulls a chair out for Marley before sitting down himself.

Blaine gulps. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. Those treatments have always served me well."

After a beat, Tina coughs to fill up the silence. "Marley looks great, though!"

"Yeah," Blaine says. "Did you get the peel too? I've found that it gives my skin a really healthy glow."

"I'm...gonna go get us some food," Marley says, giving Blaine a quick smile. She stands up and bends to kiss Jake on the top of his head, carefully avoiding his tender areas.

After she walks out of earshot, Blaine spreads his palms in apology. "I'm so sorry — I didn't know you'd react to the floracide that way."

Jake doesn't seem angry, just resigned. "It's okay. You couldn't have known. The doctor said it'd go away in a week, and by tomorrow it might not even be that noticeable. You know," Jake says. He shrugs. "Melanin."

Blaine nods knowingly, and Tina reaches across Sam's tots to swat Blaine in the arm. "You told him to do that to his face? _Why_?"

"It's not his fault!"" Jake rushes out, coloring slightly. Blaine wonders if it might be a side effect of the rash. "He was just trying to help me be a better boyfriend, do boyfriend stuff, be romantic." He sighs. "I guess I need more practice at it."

Sam frowns. "Come on. Why didn't you ask more people? Like us?" He motions to Tina, who nods vigorously.

"Uh," Jake says carefully, "I didn't really think we were friends."

"And you're best friends with _Blaine_ , really?" Tina asks.

"Hey," Blaine protests, but Jake laughs softly.

"Fair point," Jake says. "Okay. I want to be the best boyfriend I can be. I've never really been anyone's boyfriend before. What do I do?"

Sam turns to Tina, and then to Blaine, and clears his throat. "All right," he says. He pitches his voice low and his expression turns solemn. "If you build it, she will come."

Tina, Blaine, and Jake all blink at him.

"It sounded better in my head," Sam says. popping a tot into his mouth.

-

At Thursday's glee practice, Ryder sings "Hey Jealousy" by the Gin Blossoms. It's hard not to read into the lyrics when his eyes flick towards Jake _on you can trust me not to think and not to sleep around_.

Jake notices too, as he looks uncomfortably down at his lap. When Ryder sits down, Jake claps him on the shoulder. "Great song, man."

Ryder doesn't answer right away, and Blaine tenses while Jake gives a small smile. "Yeah," Ryder says, and Blaine relaxes. "Thanks."

-

Tina kicks open the door to her room that afternoon and points to the bed, where Blaine, Sam, and Jake obediently take their seats.

"Okay," she says. "What you need is a plan. Jake!"

"Yeah?"

"What does Marley like?"

"Um."

She rolls her eyes. "Try harder."

"Well," Jake says. "It's hard to narrow it down to one specific thing..."

The poor kid looks lost, and Blaine jumps in. "Marley likes glee, right?"

"Of course she does — we all do, we love it, but — "

"Nuh-uh!" Tina warns. "No buts. Unless they're cute," she adds, with a wink in Blaine's direction. He catches the wink in mid-air and returns it with a small thumbs-up.

Jake shakes his head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"No," Sam says, leaning forward and stroking his chin. "No, Tina's right. Think deeper."

Tina nods encouragingly. "What does Marley love to do in glee?"

"Sing..." Blaine says, drawing out the word and gaining confidence. He looks around and nods. "She loves to sing."

"And?" Tina prompts.

"Dance," Jake exclaims, eyes widening with excitement. "That's it, she loves to dance!"

"Precisely!" Tina spreads her arms. "She loves to dance! You've seen her in glee — she can't sit through a song without getting up to dance, right?" Blaine and Sam murmur in affirmation while Jake's eyes go moony with a dreamy smile. "Hey!" Tina snaps her fingers. "Focus. Take her out dancing. Wear something nice, treat her to a little dinner — ask her where she wants to eat, by the way, don't you dare assume — and have some fun. There. Dinner and dancing. A classic combination. Instant date."

The situation seems resolved for the moment, but Jake stays for a bit after. He tosses a tennis ball back and forth with Sam while Blaine paints Tina's nails.

"Hey," Blaine whispers, checking to make sure Sam and Jake are occupied. The boom box he'd brought over is enough to muffle their conversation.

"Hm?" Tina tilts her head distractedly, watching Blaine work.

"Do you think Ryder's going to be okay?"

Tina points to the top coat, and Blaine twists it open and begins to paint the dry nails on her left hand. "What do you mean? I thought we were here to help Jake."

"Yeah, no — I know that," Blaine says, carefully painting around the edges of her thumbnail. "But earlier, you saw his song." Blaine raises his eyebrows for emphasis, looking down. "It was pretty clear what he meant by it."

Her hand goes stiff where it rests atop Blaine's, and he looks up.

"He's like, totally in love with her. Everyone knows."

Blaine frowns. "You're not worried about him?"

She shakes her head, smiling sadly. "We've all gotta deal with loving people who'll never love us back. Rite of passage, right?"

"Uh huh," Blaine answers, and he doesn't realize he's staring at Sam until Tina grabs his wrist.

" _Blaine._ "

He glances down, seeing the clear top coat he'd been sloppily painting on her knuckle. "Oops. I'll fix that."

"Never mind that," she hisses, reaching for a cotton ball and the bottle of nail polish remover. "You!"

"Me?"

"You like _Sam_ , don't you?" Her voice is sharp, and hurt.

"Is it that obvious?"

Tina snorts. "You wear your heart on your eyes. Of course it's obvious. But — why?"

"I don't know," Blaine says, letting go of Tina's hand when she begins to paint them herself. "We've been spending a lot of time together lately, with student council and hanging out, and I've been getting to know him better...and he's been so sweet to me."

"What about Kurt?"

Blaine tenses. "This has nothing to do with Kurt."

"You spent the past ten weeks crying into your footie pajamas and watching _The Notebook_ , so excuse me for thinking that you might be using your best friend to get over your ex."

Her words sting, and they're clearly meant to. "I — Kurt and I are friends now," he says, carefully. The words still feel new on his tongue. "We're friends."

"I know you miss him, but Sam's not going to ever feel the same way."

"You don't think I know that?"

"I think you know it more than most people, but it doesn't make it any easier to hear. Or accept."

Blaine flops back on her bed. "And anyway. I wouldn't use Sam like that. I'm not going to make everything weird with some stupid crush." He props himself onto his side and nudges her knee with his. "Don't worry about me. This thing isn't serious." Blaine takes a breath, drawing it in deep and exhaling slowly. "It'll pass."

"I hope so," Tina says. She doesn't look him in the eye.

-

On Monday, Marley walks into glee with Unique and Jake on either side.

"Oh my god," Kitty says, blatantly staring. "What's up with your head?"

"It looks a lot worse than it feels," Marley answers, taking her seat and reaching out for Jake's hand. She gestures to the bandage on her forehead. "It's just a bump. The swelling should go all the way down in a few days."

"How'd it happen?" Blaine asks, scooting his chair closer.

Jake scratches the back of his neck. "Well um, we went out dancing — "

"We went out dancing," Marley repeats with a nod.

" — and my shoe flew off — "

"His shoe flew off and hit me in the face."

Marley tilts her head at Jake, whose posture and expression speak volumes of guilt.

"It hit her in the face," Jake says, dropping his head into his hands as Marley rubs a comforting hand over his back.

"He didn't mean it and he's really sorry — "

"So, so sorry."

Marley looks amused, for the most part, though Unique doesn't seem to have forgiven him so easily. When everyone gets up to dance for Unique's performance of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" (during which she sends periodic glares in Jake's direction), Jake stays seated, tapping his heels and slumping sheepishly into his chair.

When Blaine lets Marley go to spin Sugar around his arm, he doesn't miss the way Ryder dives in to catch her, or the way Jake watches, eyes following them carefully around the room.

-

"Come on," Sam says, twirling around in Blaine's desk chair. "We've gotta find a new plan of attack."

"Ryder's still into her," Jake says, settling himself onto the floor at the foot of Blaine's bed. "I just — I love her so much, but how long before she decides she wants to be with a guy who's never kicked her in the face?"

"You didn't kick her in the face," Tina points out. She sprawls out on Blaine's comforter, laying her head in Blaine's lap.

"My shoe landed on her face. A shoe that I had been wearing."

"She's fine," Tina groans, closing her eyes grumpily. "Let it go. Move forward. What else can we do?"

"It wasn't your fault the plan didn't work out," Blaine says, running his hand soothingly over Tina's hair.

"Like I said. New plan! Blaine?" Sam rubs his hands together, and — it's sort of hot, the way Sam takes charge, and Blaine tries to keep his thoughts in check. Tina must feel the way his breathing kind of sputters out, because she looks up at him with soft eyes.

"Yes?"

"Remember that video you made me the other week? Can you make another one for Jake?"

"Sure," Blaine says. "What are you thinking about?"

"We'll make a new one! Jake? What's Marley's favorite song?"

"That'd be 'You're All I Need To Get By.'"

"You're going to sing it for her," Sam says, "and we're going to film it, and Blaine's going to edit it, and we're gonna make that thing go viral." He leans forward, solemn. "Never underestimate the power of social media in the modern romantic landscape."

-

"Uh," Jake says, tugging at the bowtie around his neck as they wrap up. "Wouldn't it have been easier to just...sing it to her? Like, in person? I play guitar, you know."

Sam scoffs. "No. Don't talk crazy."

"I think what Sam means is that it's kind of the point," Blaine offers. "You want the flash. You want her to know you care enough to try this hard." He swallows, and quickly adds "Please don't scrunch up the bowtie."

Jake contritely folds his hands together and looks offstage, where Tina struggles with a dress mannequin as she unpins the suit jacket Jake had worn. "Sorry. I forgot the outfit was a loan."

"It was worth it," Tina calls. "You're gonna look great on film. Ready to go?" She turns to Blaine expectantly, and _crap_.

"Sorry, Tina," Blaine says. "Sam and I are gonna work on editing at my house. Are you coming with us?"

She purses her lips. "Hm. Maybe not. Jake," she says, taking him by the arm. "You're giving me a ride home."

"Oh? Okay." Jake waits by the door while Tina gathers up her things.

"Have fun," she says with a knowing look in Blaine's direction, half-mischief and half something unrecognizable, and she follows Jake to his car, leaving Blaine with a light touch.

-

It's not until Blaine unlocks the door at just past nine that he starts to get hot and prickly. The lights are off and the house is quiet, which means his parents have already gone to bed — an opportunity that he and Kurt would take advantage of as efficiently and often as possible, given Kurt's 10 o'clock curfew.

Sam's presence is heavy, and — it's not like Sam takes up space, or makes too much noise in the stillness around them as they head for Blaine's bedroom. And it's definitely not like Sam hasn't been there before. Just two weekends ago they'd spent two hours in his room while Sam taught him how to play "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" on guitar. But with the dark hallway — he's heedful not to wake his parents — and the way Sam follows close behind him, every movement feels charged, each careful step and inheld breath stirring memories of sneaking upstairs with Kurt, and it's too hard not to close his eyes and miss it.

"Dude. Are we gonna do it or what?"

Blaine blinks his eyes open, flustered out of his thoughts. "What?"

Sam pokes him in the shoulder from behind. "You kinda spaced out there for a second."

"Sorry," Blaine mumbles, fumbling for the lightswitch and stepping aside to let Sam through. "You can, um. Sit on the bed for now."

Blaine opens up his laptop and settles in, cross-legged next to Sam. They transfer the file to Blaine's laptop, and get to work.

"I like this background," Sam says after a few minutes, breathing warm over Blaine's shoulder.

"I'm not so sure." Blaine squints at the screen. Jake looks great on camera, but the green and orange whirlpool pattern Sam points to would definitely clash with Jake's blush-toned suit. "Can we try something else?"

"Like?"

"I think we could fade in from black with a blinds effect? Or maybe try a gradient wipe to transition to different takes..."

"Wow." Sam whistles. "I didn't know there was so much involved in this kind of thing."

"It's amazing what you can do with some phone footage and a little bit of iMovie. I'm no Artie, but." Blaine lifts a shoulder. "I try."

"I've only like, uploaded stuff to YouTube on my phone, or whatever. Quick stuff, nothing huge."

Blaine smiles. "This'll definitely take longer than that. A couple of hours, at least. Gotta make Jake look good, right?"

"It's not that hard. He's a good-looking guy."

"Yeah," Blaine says, nodding a little too quickly. "Really handsome. Charming, swell." He tugs his collar away from his neck, where he can feel heat pooling.

Frowning, Sam moves closer, and with the extra contact Blaine's breath hitches. "Hey," Sam says. "I wasn't kidding when I said it was cool if you were into him. Are you?"

"Actually, you said it was cool if he was into me."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"I'm not," Blaine says, shaking his head. He pushes the laptop off his knees. "We're friends. And it's not like he'd reciprocate. If I did, I mean."

"Come on, though." Sam swats Blaine in the side. "You'd tell me if you were into someone, right?"

Blaine clears his throat and picks his laptop back up. "Let's focus on Jake's love life, first." 

"But yeah," Sam persists. "Like, Ryder likes Marley, but Marley doesn't like Ryder — Marley likes Jake, and Jake likes Marley. Nobody wants to be the third wheel."

"Okay?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Sam says, and he leans closer still, with earnest eyes, and full lips, and he doesn't realize he's staring until Sam licks his lips, and he has to turn away before he does — before he does something. Anything but — 

"You'd never hurt me."

Shit.

"Of course not — wait, what?" Sam's face is slack, jaw hanging ajar, and shit, shit. He swallows, and Blaine freezes, watching the way his throat works. Sam's easy smile dips slightly. "Are you — do you have feelings for me?"

He hadn't planned on saying anything, and even if he had, certainly not like this. There's no taking it back now, though. "Yeah," Blaine whispers hoarsely. "I do." He shifts, accidentally rolling onto his phone, but he removes it from underneath his thigh and sets it down by his computer.

"Oh." Sam shrugs after what feels like hours of loaded silence, and gives Blaine a small, lopsided smile. "That's cool, I guess. I've never had a gay dude be into me. Is it the hair? I've been growing it out."

Blaine sits up, completely pushing his laptop aside, and stares at Sam. "That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

Sam nods, and the way his hair falls into his face makes him look so young, at odds with his serious expression. "Yeah. Why?"

"You don't think it's weird that I like you?"

"Only if you think it is." Sam leans back casually, resting his head on his hands, and it's too much to think about.

"It isn't weird. Developing feelings for a close friend is a perfectly natural course of events." Blaine slumps back onto his pillows beside Sam, grateful for the space he'd cleared. "I'm just tired of messing everything up."

"I don't think you messed anything up." Sam turns to face him, nudging Blaine in the knee with his own. "And you're not gonna mess us up. We're bros, you and me. Right?"

"Always," Blaine says. He looks over his shoulder to where his laptop sits and stifles a yawn, suddenly sleepy. "You know what? Maybe we don't need to do anything to the video. He already kills the song. We can just...show it like it is. Simple."

Sam nods. "Less is more?"

"Exactly."

Sam climbs off the bed while Blaine packs up his things, and Blaine walks him out as silently as they came in. As Sam opens his car door, he turns to smile at Blaine one last time.

It feels... _easy_. There's no sting of wanting what he can't have, and none of the heavy tension from earlier. Blaine waits until Sam climbs in before touching him briefly on the shoulder. "Night, Sam."

"Night, Blaine." He starts the engine and leans out of the open door. "And dude, don't be so down on yourself. You deserve someone who can like you as much as you like him. He'll come around."

Sam closes the door with a wave and drives away, leaving Blaine staring after him as the car disappears from sight.

-

Blaine oversleeps the next morning, and he has just enough time to reshape his hair and throw on a fresh set of clothes before he has to leave. He makes it to first period on time, even if Becky had dropped her books in the hallway and asked him to pick them up.

He doesn't see his friends until lunch, and they all smile warmly as he sits down.

"Ready for glee?" Blaine asks, looking at Jake.

"Yeah," Jake says. He takes Marley's free hand. "I'm ready."

On Jake's other side, Ryder quietly takes a bite of his sandwich, eyes downcast.

-

"Okay," Sam says as everyone files into the choir room. "Do you have the video?"

"On my phone," Blaine answers, holding his phone up for Sam to see. "Jake, do you have your speech ready?"

"I love you, you're the only girl for me, and. I love you?"

"Great!" Sam points to the laptop, connected to a projector they'd borrowed from Lauren, and Blaine connects his phone. Behind him, Sam stands on a chair, cups his hands around his mouth, and shouts. "Hey! We've got a presentation to make, so uh, if you could all pay attention we'd appreciate it. Thanks!"

Blaine waits until the chatter fades into silence and clears his throat. "This is a special message, from Jake — " he motions to Jake, who ducks his head in response " — to Marley." Quickly, he navigates to the most recent video on his phone and presses play.

The screen is dark. Kitty yawns, and Sam turns around to squint his eyes at her, putting a meaningful finger to his lips. He turns back to Blaine and whispers, "Where's the song?"

"I don't know!" Blaine fidgets with his collar. "It should start right away. It's playing!"

The image onscreen gets brighter, and Blaine sighs in relief. There's a bit of rustling as the blurry shape gets clearer, and — the label on the back of his own favorite pair of jeans comes into sharp focus.

" _I've never had a gay dude be into me_ ," says the onscreen image, and Sam's voice is unmistakable.

Sam gapes, jaw dropping open. "Shit!"

"Um," Blaine says, coughing loudly. He slams the laptop shut, grabbing his phone as Sam turns the lights back on. "That was — um — "

"Your big gay sex tape?" Kitty asks, looking far too interested for her blasé tone of voice.

"That's not what we were supposed to present." Blaine takes a deep breath and smiles at the confused glee club — Jake's face reflecting some of his own panic — and he scrolls through his phone. "I can't find the file," he says, glancing at Sam helplessly.

"What?"

"It's not on here!" Blaine waves his phone in front of Sam's face.

"I don't need it," Jake says, voice cutting through Blaine's panic.

vBlaine and Sam look at each other, and look at Tina. They turn back to Jake, who stands up to face the rest of glee.

"I love Marley," Jake continues. Joe nods slowly, and Unique crosses her arms and raises one eyebrow. Marley leans forward, smiling softly. "I had a few friends help me show you how much, but I don't know if it was enough. And I just wanted to..." He looks around, thanking the glee guitarist (Blaine never did get his name) and slinging the offered guitar around his shoulders. "I wanted to tell you how special you are. I'm no saint — I know you know that — but I promise..."

Jake strums and sings the opening strains of "You're All I Need to Get By" and doesn't take his eyes off Marley once throughout the song. He grins happily as Marley joins him, and soon the whole glee club is on their feet, singing and dancing along with them.

Blaine stands to the side, watching and smiling until Tina and Sam drag him into the circle by each arm. As the song ends, Marley and Jake harmonize on the last note, holding it out until she cuts it off to throw her arms around his neck.

"Thank you," she says, sniffling. "But you didn't have to do all that for me." She pulls back, beaming. "Jake...you didn't have to go through all of this just to tell me you feel the same way I do."

Jake's eyes soften. "I love you. I want to be good for you. I know people will tell you that you deserve better, but — I want to be that, for you."

"You already are," Marley says simply. She gives Jake a light kiss and walks over to Blaine. While Jake looks on questioningly, Marley whispers into Blaine's ear.

Blaine grins when Marley pulls away, and nods excitedly. "I think we can manage that. Guys?"

Sam and Tina tilt their heads.

"Impromptu jam session." He turns to Jake, motioning for the guitar and handing it to Sam when Jake complies, and he sits at the piano and flexes his fingers. He counts them in with a nod of his head, and starts to play.

Sam picks it up during the chorus, and Tina shakes a tambourine as Marley performs.

" _You won't ever find him being unfaithful_ ," she sings, shaking a finger in Jake's direction. " _You'll find him, you'll find him next to me_."

As the final chorus crests, Sam brings the guitar to the piano, where he and Blaine share a big smile and play extra hard through the end.

-

"Thank you so much," Jake says after glee lets out. "I don't know how I can thank you enough."

Blaine slings an arm around Sam and Tina, and Tina punches Jake's shoulder lightly. "We didn't even do anything, in the end. It was all you."

"Yeah, but..." Jake trails off to watch Ryder help Marley gather her books. Blaine studies Jake's face carefully, but there's no sign of tension or bad blood anywhere.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Sam asks, jerking his head towards Ryder.

"I hope so." Jake looks down and shrugs, giving a little laugh. "He's my best friend, you know? I have to be a little bit in love with him, too."

"Yeah," Blaine answers. "Yeah."

He swallows thickly, and this time it's not Sam he's thinking about at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Mic and Kelsey for talking this through and helping me out, and thanks to Mariah for always being there to throw half-finished fic in her direction. :)
> 
> "Next to Me" is used here in a different context than it was on the show, but I promise that when I outlined that scene I had no idea Glee would use it. Purely coincidental, but I like my version better anyway!


End file.
